Letters

Hampton Bays is a virtual gymnasium. It offers something for everyone.

The best workout is to walk over the Ponquogue Bridge to the ocean. It is low impact, but the walk might strengthen your heart and legs while you are looking at beautiful scenery and breathing clean, fresh air.

To improve on the “bridge exercise,” you could do jumping jacks, push-ups or squats along the way. I usually add a plank at the water’s edge, and I will crawl on the sand for a few minutes. Some people walk to the inlet.

For an easy “downtown workout,” park by the train station and walk a mile loop around downtown. It should take 20 minutes. You could add more distance by walking through Good Ground Park, and you could up the workout with jumping jacks and squats.

Educational workout on Saturday: Walk down and up the library back steps three times. Carry a bag of books up on the third walk. The library book sale is every Saturday!

Riding a bike over the Ponquogue Bridge, and riding east or west on Dune Road, is very good exercise, and it’s popular. Perhaps the town will build us a bike/walk trail from Shinnecock Inlet to Moriches Inlet if many people contact them. It could be like the trail on Jones Beach Island.

Summertime: Swimming is a full-body workout. Weather permitting, I’m in the ocean every day swimming into the waves and body-surfing back.

Kayaking and stand-up paddling: Hampton Bays has miles of paddleable waterways. Many streets dead-end at the water. Plop in your craft and paddle.

Note: Aside from swimming and paddling, we do most of the above in hail, rain, shine, snow or wind.

Jim Dreeben

Hampton Bays